Jerome Kern Songbook

One must laugh when reading these 8 reviews. If only all albums had this much artistry & care! While 3/4 of the reviews are *****, the comments would make one think it was rated much lower. One comment states her range was better on the Mecrer Songbook but she really goes flat on Day In Day Out. Another comment is that her Berlin Songbook is far better but I feel that one was her worst songbook. She was mismatched with the Berlin material. Reallly! It'a all personal taste! Ella didn't have the range of Sarah Vaughan, Eydie Gorme, Jane Morgan or Shirley Bassey but she had other great talents. In the later years when other singers would have been in their declines, Ella smartly picked a new manager & better quality songs & arrangements. She also kept her voice in tact as long as possible. No one singer has all the great qualities. She had so much variety in being able to do scat, straight jazz, pop, blues, & satire. She gave us knowledge of many great songs that would have been otherwise left forgotten. From this cd, She Didn't Say Yes, & I'll Be Hard To Handle are musts to any collection. I can't think of any singer who could have done those 2 better. Ella coud really swing & dramatize at same time. Not many could. I'm surprised no mentioned the at 1st 6 songs are better than the last 6. Here I think arranger Nelson Riddle was doing straight forward pop arrngements for the side A of the orginial lp & being adventurous with the B side. While I see how one may not like Way You Look Tonight, I give it ***** for an unique arrangement. In those days too many songs had to end in 3 minutes. This was allowed time to paint a complete canvas. If one wants a great introduction to a great American composer, start with this, please.

Ella's Kern collection, with the singer in peak form backed by splendidly jazzy Nelson Riddle arrangements, is an essential component of her complete Verve Songbook masterwork, and a triumph of content over form. Coming late in the series, the project unfortunately received short shrift as a single-LP album whereas two or more discs had been the norm for prior Songbooks. While the songs themselves are an adequate sampling of Kern standards, there is simply not enough space on one disc to do justice to Kern's wealth of composition. A multi-disc boxed set (similar to Fitzgerald's grandiose Gershwin and Ellington Songbooks), with material ranging from extensive selections from Show Boat and Roberta to lesser-known gems from the P. G. Wodehouse Princess Theater shows, would have been ideal for Kern; but alas! this was not to be, as the Verve Songbook series was then perceived as having run its course. The magnificent performances of Fitzgerald and the Riddle orchestra more than atone for this unintended slight to a great American composer. Whatever its shortcomings, the album is not to be missed by followers of the artists, Kern, musical theatre or the American popular song.

Ella is always fabulous and there are a nice selection of Jerome Kern songs, but I have to say that this is not my favorite album by the incomparable Ms. Fitzgerald.

If you are beginning your SongBook Collection, I would recommend the Rogers and Hart Songbook, or the Johnny Mercer. Both demonstrate Ella's wonderful range much more effectively.

Nonetheless, you won't be disappointed with the JK Songbook. Ella still "sells" the songs beautifully.